The present invention relates to communication networks, and, more particularly, to maintaining the physical plant in the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
In the PSTN, a network services provider, such as a Local Exchange Carrier (LEC), Bell Operating Company (BOC), and/or Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) typically dedicates central office equipment and loop facilities, which may be referred to as physical plant, to a given address. The combination of dedicated office equipment and loop facilities may be referred to as a cut-through (CT). When new service is requested at an address, a technician may be dispatched to the address to establish the new service. Frequently, the technician breaks the existing loop facilities running to another address and sets up new loop facilities to this address to establish the new service. Oftentimes, breaking the existing loop facilities is unnecessary as the existing facilities could have been used if they had been provisioned electronically and/or if they had been repaired or maintained in some way. Because it is often easier to break the existing loop facilities and set up new loop facilities than it is to repair or maintain the existing loop facilities, technicians frequently prefer to set up new service or fix a service problem by breaking the existing loop facilities and running new loop facilities to the address. Moreover, because technicians are often given quotas for the number of service orders to be completed, there is even greater incentive for technicians to favor breaking existing loop facilities and replacing them with new loop facilities over repairing and/or maintaining the existing loop facilities.